I've decided to crawl out of my winter hibernation in an attempt to revive this blog and share some more experiences with you all that I have been participating in this semester. But like my scooter battery which died in the midst of this cold weather, reviving this blog might take a few kicks before it gets rolling again. I hope you'll excuse my first few attempts if they don't succeed.
This semester I'm beginning a new focus through my Supervised Ministry at Jacob's Well which I am particularly excited to share. As a part of an outreach through Jacob's Well, I am helping Philip Lesniewski who is the director of the social outreach and justice ministries of our church with a Habitat for Humanity Project we have signed on for 2009.
For those of you who are not familiar with Habitat For Humanity International, they are a nonprofit, ecumenical Christian housing ministry which seeks to eliminate housing poverty and homelessness from the world. The families that eventually inhabit these houses invest their own sweat equity into the house and the houses of others in addition to contributing a down payment and paying affordable mortgage payments. The houses are sold for no profit to the family and their payments also go toward helping HFHI finance other builds.
What's particularly interesting about this build in Kansas City is it is the only building project within HFHI that intentionally brings together Christians, Jews, and Muslims to work together toward the common goal of providing affordable housing for those in need. For this reason, it is called, “The House that Abraham Built.”
This last Sunday I attended the ground breaking for this project. I was amazed as I along with around 70 different people of differing faiths stood in an empty lot in 30 degree weather and watched as Christians, Jews, and Muslims put aside their differences to embrace the common desire to do good. The ceremony was highlighted with a blessing of the ground by a representative of each faith according to their tradition. It was a beautiful sight.
Most of my interactions with this project this semester will be organizing volunteers from our church for build days that will begin in April, but I look forward to building relationships with people from these other churches, mosques, and synagogues and sharing with them in this great opportunity to provide housing for people who truly need it. 
In all of this yesterday, I was reminded of a quote that is often attributed to St. Francis of Assisi: “Preach the Gospel at all times and when necessary use words.” While I know that we all don't agree theologically, there is no reason why we can't work together in peace and learn from one another in the process. I hope my actions will make my words unnecessary.
Posted on
Monday, February 16, 2009
by Gerard Brown